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Finally, Lucas got a clue and realized that the way to keep Sami was to provide her with support. This past week, Lucas let Sami know that she doesn't have to end the vendetta on her own.

My first week as an official Two Scoops Columnist and John has to get run over by a car. Are you freakin' kidding me?? Thanks karma! I guess I'll be careful what I wish for! I never thought I'd have too much to cover in one article. But, I'll do my best….

You know what's great about soap operas? They are pretend, sometimes unbelievable. In the sprit of soap operas, I'm refusing to believe that John Black is dead. That, my friends, is NOT a fact. All we know is that John got hit by a car and is very hurt. After all, this is the guy who survived being shot in the head and lived. He is going to be just fine. Hogan, Drake, and TPTB are going to share a big group hug. Then, Doc will have John right back by her side. Here's my proposal: John will be critically wounded and need one of those liver/kidney/blood transplant-transfusion thingy-ies. Remarkably, EJ Wells is a match. Belle does not match and Brady is too far away to wait for test results (go with me). So, EJ makes a deal with Sami that he will donate one of his kidneys/liver/blood to save her stepfather in return for her hand in marriage. When John awakes, he'll vow to use his new-found health to rescue his stepdaughter from matrimonial purgatory. Who's with me?!?!

For the time being, Sami will remain Mrs. Lucas Roberts Horton. Finally, Lucas got a clue and realized that the way to keep Sami was to provide her with support. Lucas assembled the Bradys to let Sami know that she doesn't have to end the vendetta on her own. I didn't believe EJ for a British second when he said that the arranged marriage was the only way to end the vendetta, but Lucas needed to readjust his attitude. Sami was thinking about leaving Lucas. Let's go over Lucas's options. He could:
a) tell Sami that he loves her
b) tell Sami that he'll try to find another way to end the vendetta
c) tell Sami that he supports her no matter what
d) all of the above!!
But instead, Lucas continually berated Sami and scolded her like she was a child. All he was doing was making it easier for Sami to walk away from him. I hope that Lucas keeps his ego in check and stops acting like Sami is first place in the "You Da Man!" pageant.

Have you ever watched one of those movies where you just knew that you missed something? You end up asking your date, "What just happened?" You know it was important, but it all happened so fast that you didn't quite absorb it. That's how I felt in the scenes with Stefano and big Shawn. So, let me get this straight. Stefano, in all his infinite 6-year-old wisdom, knew that his parents had an arranged marriage. He also knew that his mother was in love with his father, but his father was not in love with his mother. Stefano further knew that by telling young Shawn that his father was still married, Shawn would run at tell big sis, thus, Stefano would succeed in breaking up the forbidden love affair between Colleen and Santo. So the evil boy-wonder set a master plan into motion and told Shawn the dirty little secret that would ultimately cause Colleen's death. Just when I thought I had it figured out, Stefano makes statements like, "If you only knew, Shawn…." and, "Of course you didn't find the body." Huh? One of two things are happening here: 1) The writers are trying to give themselves an out. Some day they might realize that this Romeo and Juliet storyline doesn't quite explain the vendetta. OR 2) Stefano has a little "Sami Brady" in him and would try anything to have his parents together. Stefano is the one who wants to keep the vendetta going because he is so angry at the Bradys for causing his mother such pain. Having Sami Brady stuck in a loveless marriage seems to be perfect eye-for-an-eye revenge in Stefano's mind. The vendetta revenge is not for Santo, but for Mrs. Santo.

But, the vendetta may be over for one, Andre DiMera. I can't believe that he really pulled his own plug!! (Ok, I know he "pushed his own button"- but that phrase wasn't nearly as cool.) Man, that guy is good. When the police dust for finger prints they'll find Shawn's prints and there's no way that they can't arrest Shawn for Andre's murder. You and I both know that big Shawn is innocent, but the evidence does not look good. They will definitely have to go to trial. Then, TBTB might just have to bring back Uncle Mickey or Frankie to defend this important case!! (insert smirk here)

In other legal news, the other baby shoe dropped this week. Philip learns that Tyler is alive and living with Steve and Kayla. First, I can't figure out how Ms. Meyers still has her job as a social worker. Second, I can't figure out how Victor pulled enough strings to take Claire away from Belle and Shawn (for no reason at all), but there's no way Victor can help Philip get custody of Philip's actual biological son. I hope that a DNA test is the only thing standing in the way of Philip reuniting with Tyler, because Steve and Kayla have absolutely no right to Tyler. There's no way that either of them poisoned Tyler, but they also should know that their foster arrangement was temporary. Having said that, however, Philip should understand (better than anyone) what it feels like to have an attachment to a child that you don't share DNA with. Belle was right. Philip should be grateful that Tyler had the best foster parents possible. As for the kiss between Belle and Philip, I completely don't buy into Phelle. Belle has zero romantic feelings left for Philip. What I do buy into is Philip being scared about being alone and a single father. I totally agree with my better half Tony that it would have been great for Lauren to stay around for a while. Philip needs to learn that there is more to life than the miraculous Belle Black.

Finally, I might get some heat for this, but I really enjoyed the sorority scenes. Rachel Melvin is turning into one heck of a good little actress and Darin Brooks has excellent comedic timing. Add in the endearing qualities of Julie Evans, and this potential train wreck of a storyline turned pretty funny. Sure, the auction scenes dripped with cheese, but as a Passions fan I can appreciate campy entertainment as long as it's funny. I could tell that the actors in the scenes were trying not to laugh when they had to deliver lines like, "I like my cars fast, but you have to pay to look at my engine." (hehe! I laughed just typing that one.) And, I really liked the scene where Steph and Chelsea told Courtney that Ford would be lucky to go out on a date with Courtney. That's the kind of storyline that Stephanie and Chelsea should be involved in. If you remember back to Belle/Shawn/Mimi and Philip at age 21, they were playing "who's the daddy" and watching Claire potentially die in the hospital. I'll take a bachelor auction over that any day! The only thing I'm still not going for is the Max-Steph love angle. Not only are they related, but I'm really growing fond of the way that Max acts like a big brother with Steph and Chelsea. Kind of like an uncle!…hey…wait a minute…..

Hot and Not

Hot
Sami and John. Fans have been waiting years for Sami to tell John that she loves him. Not only did we hear Sami tell John, "I love you. You're my dad too", but we got to hear John tell Sami that he is proud of her. I'm giving Hogan the benefit of the doubt that this is not a peace offering to the fans for getting rid of Father John. (A girl can hope!)

Not
Stephanie. Steph may lack brains, but at least she doesn't lack ego! She asks "Mountain Make-out Max" if he thinks that she is hot enough to convince guys to do what she wants. Then she bets him $50 that her…um…skills would convince a group of guys to stop watching a football game to play Ken dolls for a few hours. Can anybody tell me when Chelsea and Stephanie switched places? Once upon a time, Stephanie was a caring girl who loved her family and was focused on becoming a well balanced woman. Chelsea was a spoiled little brat who fought with her parents and was obsessed with Max Brady. Can you see where I'm going?

Finally, please indulge me in a few "thank you's". Thanks to all of you who wrote in and helped me become a two scoops columnist. It means the world to this Journalism grad that someone other than my mom would ever want to read anything I wrote. Also, thanks to all of you who left comments letting me know of things that I could do better. I read every feedback comment and try to improve each week. Finally, thanks to Tony, my partner in crime, for agreeing to come with me to this Two-Scoops party. He's such a talented writer and I love the fact that I get to read his columns every other week.

Last Minute News

If John really is leaving Salem, at least we have one more chance to remember a great John moment. SOAPnet will air three consecutive Marlena possession episodes to coincide with Halloween. The episodes air on Sunday, October 28th at 9:00 pm EST.

Two Scoops is an opinion column. The views expressed are not designed to be indicative of the opinions of soapcentral.com or its advertisers. The Two Scoops section allows our Scoop staff to discuss what might happen, what has happened, and to take a look at the logistics of it all. They stand by their opinions and do not expect others to share the same view point.